As a substitute for reading musical staff notation, it is known for a beginner student to learn the guitar by following a printed chord diagram, known as tablature, to determine positions to place the fingers on specific strings and frets corresponding to desired chords or melodic lines to be played.
A limitation of this method of learning to play the guitar (Tabs) is that the use of a chord diagram is highly visual, awkward and time consuming as the user must repeatedly move the visual attention from sheet music to the chord diagram to the guitar fret board and back to properly position the fingers and play the sequence of chords.
Another method of learning to play the guitar is with the guided help of a guitar instructor. The instructor may attempt to teach the student by demonstrating the placement of the fingers on the strings and frets and guiding the students hand for proper placement. A limitation of the use of a hired instructor is that instruction can be expensive, can not be performed independently and is only available at certain scheduled times (when the instructor is available to teach).
Method books and instructional videos are available but can be very difficult to comprehend, especially if the person is musically illiterate. Most instructional books and videos require a basic understanding of music notation. For a person that simply wishes to learn to play the guitar and not interested in becoming a professional musician, method books and instructional videos can be difficult to understand, follow and frustrating to learn from independently.
Therefore, apparatus for training a user to play a guitar that permits the student to learn and practice according to their own schedule, a guitar training apparatus that is equipped to accept, play and interpret encoded MIDI music files using the MIDI data to visually illustrate sequences of correct finger placement on strings and frets to play the MIDI music, a guitar training apparatus that can teach a user to play music and songs on the guitar without resorting to printed musical scores, a guitar training apparatus that is less awkward and more time efficient than traditional guitar learning methods thereby allowing the student to progress quickly, such a guitar training apparatus would be useful and novel.